The Night Sun
by Nicholas Lucien
Summary: Nick acquires the second jade cup and performs the ritual. I do not own these characters and is not intended to infringe upon any copyright owners. No profit is being made from this work.
1. Chapter 1

_2004 Vienna, Austria_

Seated in the black leather chair, LaCroix leaned over and scrutinized the positions of the chess pieces on the board next to him. The game had begun the previous night and was to be finished tonight, the victor deciding which concert they would attend next. LaCroix stroked his finger across his lower lip as he barely smiled; Nicholas apparently wanted to be the one to choose, and the aggressive moves across the board reflected that. The leather squeaked as he leaned back. The evening was approaching, and soon his son would awaken and come to him. LaCroix found he was slightly unnerved by that prospect, but he had delayed this particular moment long enough and had decided tonight he would discuss with his son something that should have been done long before now. The muffled sound of shoes walking on carpet announced that Nicholas had finally entered the study and LaCroix mentally prepared himself for what could happen.

Grinning in amusement, Nick dropped into his chair next to the gameboard. "Getting a little nervous about the outcome?"

LaCroix was momentarily startled before realizing Nicholas was referring to the game, not to his inner musings. His lips turned up into a quick smirk as he negligently glanced at the chessboard. "I already know how this particular game will end."

Nick intently studied his maker, sensing some distress through their mental link. It wasn't typical for LaCroix to be anxious about a chess game, especially one he actually would most likely win. Nick looked down at the board. "Then should we resume?"

"Perhaps later." Under Nicholas' concerned gaze, LaCroix rose out of his chair and headed over to the desk. Opening the lowest drawer, he pulled out a medium-sized lidded wooden box. He closed the drawer and, holding the box close, headed back to stand in front of his son.

"Is everything alright, LaCroix?"

LaCroix took a deep breath. "I think you would agree that the current state of our relationship is better than it has been in a very long time."

Wondering what his sire was doing, Nick leaned back in the chair. "I would agree with that," he replied, matching his tone to LaCroix's.

"I have something for you," LaCroix solemnly spoke as he placed his hand on the lid of the box. "I have had this for a while but did not know if I should give it to you."

Nick glanced apprehensively at the box. "What is it?"

LaCroix handed the box to Nicholas, then returned to his chair. Nicholas, he noted, simply held the box in his hands, staring at it. Eventually, without opening it, his son looked back up at him. "This is something," LaCroix explained, "from one of our most acrimonious times together. I am fully aware of what memories this will bring up." He looked down, then forced his hand onto the armrest, unaware he had been rubbing the spot where Nicholas had impaled a burning stake into his chest. "However, I think you should have it now."

Nick tentatively returned his attention to the box. Slowly, he lifted up the hinged lid. Peering within, he found the inside lined in red velvet and, lying on its side, a dark jade cup restored in a kintsugi style. He carefully reached into the box to touch the item. He ran his fingers delicately over the smooth stone surface and felt the repairs where the broken pieces had been mended back together. He followed the seam lines, visible with their golden hue, and lingered over areas where patches of gold had been used to replace missing jade fragments. Nick quickly looked back up at LaCroix. "Is this …."

"It is," LaCroix confirmed. "I gathered all the pieces I could find off the floor of the abattoir, and kept them for years before repairing it." He watched as Nicholas looked into the box again.

"Why did you keep this?"

The sympathetic tone Nicholas had used to ask the question was a relief; LaCroix had expected anger. As for the question itself, he considered his reasons for keeping the fragments. Initially, it was out of spite, but later morphed into a reminder of how close he had come to completely losing his son. Keeping such thoughts to himself, LaCroix chose another answer. "I suppose," he slowly answered, "to remind myself that something so broken could still be mended and function, and that it should not be forgotten that a repair had needed to be performed."

Nick gently closed the lid on the box. He knew this was the closest LaCroix would ever come to saying that he was sorry.

"Well, it is yours now. You can do what you want to with it."

Nick brought his gaze up to his sire. "You do realize what this means."

"Such mystical nonsense of course," LaCroix propounded as he quietly tapped the band of his ring on the armrest, confident that this ritual, like so many other purported cures his son chased after, would not work. But alas, he knew his Nicholas very well. "However, if that is what you still wish to attempt now that you have the pair of cups …."

Nick rose out of the chair, placing the box carefully on the seat. He moved a few steps in order to stand directly in front of LaCroix, who was now standing as well. He enveloped his maker while making their mental link vibrate with gratitude. "Thank you for at least letting me try."


	2. Chapter 2

_2007 Toronto, ON, Canada_

Natalie stood in the doorway and scanned the ROM's conference room searching for Nick. When two people moved to take their seats, she was able to finally spot him sitting in the back. She threaded cautiously through the neatly arranged rows of chairs and claimed a seat along the back wall. Nick, gallant as ever, had risen to help her, a large smile on his face as he gave her cheek a chaste kiss. She sat down at the same time he did.

"I'm really glad you decided to come."

"As if I'd ever miss an opportunity to be with you. Speaking of which," Natalie continued as she glared at Nick, "this is earlier than I expected for your periodic visit." She scrutinized him closely. Lately, she had been thinking of him and had been pleasantly surprised by the message that morning that he would be in town and wanted her company to listen to a scientific seminar before taking her to dinner. However, she was also worried because Nick had barely given any details in the message and practically no time to prepare. "I thought you were in Paris with Janette. Did something happen?"

"With Janette?" Nick quizzically asked. "No, she's fine. We were in a remote area and a few days ago returned to Paris. A message finally caught up with me, requesting I come to this talk."

That information made Natalie even more concerned, and she felt her heart rate increase. She remembered answering so many questions to the Enforcers and to the police when Nick had left years ago, but she thought all that had been settled. Perhaps, she thought, someone had figured something out and this was a trap. "This request was for you … personally?"

"Well, actually, to the entity that holds and administers my collections. This presenter had made a formal request for one of the objects listed in the catalogue." Nick picked up a packet that had been resting on the seat next to him, though he actually hadn't read all of it; he intended to get what he needed by talking with the man himself. "He was told a representative would come and hear him, then make a final decision on the inquiry."

Natalie relaxed; no one here was specifically searching for Nick. "And since that decision would actually be yours …."

Nick smiled. "I decided to come myself. And if I was going to be in town, I didn't want to miss spending some time with you."

"Thanks," Natalie whispered as she tilted to playfully push her shoulder into his. "So," she said while realigning herself, "what piece does he want and why?"

Nick shrugged. "He wants to do some chemical test or something, looking for traces of anything, he's not quite sure what, exactly."

Natalie had the distinct impression that Nick seemed to be deliberately avoiding her question. "That's strange. On what piece?" She wiggled out of her lightweight jacket. "This is a history museum, so probably not any of your fine art paintings or sculptures." She draped her jacket over the back of the seat. "So some artifact from ancient human history," she reasoned. "Is it for that little Paleolithic figurine you have?"

"No," Nick hesitantly responded. "Something a little closer to modern times."

"What?" She watched as Nick squirmed.

"A cup."

"A cup?" Natalie scrunched her forehead in thought, trying to recall the various pieces he had shown her over the years. "Cup?" She let out a harsh breath of air when she realized which piece he meant; no wonder the meeting was here at the ROM and Nick didn't want to outright say. "You mean _that_ cup - your Maya cup."

"Nat-"

"Nick, you told me you were done with that."

"It's not like that."

Natalie shook her head in disbelief. She remembered a few years ago when Nick had said he had gotten a second Maya cup, that he had the actual one that had been stolen from the ROM. She recalled the phone conversation, his barely contained excitement that the broken pieces had been saved and reassembled, and her shock that LaCroix had done that, and then his next call that he would soon be trying the ritual. Natalie also couldn't forget when Nick just showed up at her door, discouraged and dejected that the process hadn't worked. She had comforted him, and he had said it was finished: he had tried that ritual, and now there was nothing left but to turn towards other potential modern cures. "You promised me, Nick," she harshly whispered. "You promised yourself."

"I don't know why you think I'm back at that. I'm not."

"Then why are you here? You could have just approved the request and still be in Paris. Instead, you're here."

Nick looked around the room, which was beginning to fill with other audience members. "So what do you think of the Crystal addition to the building?"

"I think you're trying to change the subject, Nick. Why?"

Nick returned his gaze to Natalie. "The request was part of coming, but also because of you." He scanned around the room again, seeing more people entering. "I sensed you, a need from you," he cautiously answered, knowing how she felt about his connection to her. "There was this low-level pulsation for a while then an intense burst from you, and at the exact same time this request to be in Toronto …." Nick didn't know how to fully explain the shock such a coincidence seemed to be, and he definitely wasn't going to say how convenient the request was in explaining to Janette why he immediately had to leave for Toronto. "I don't know," he uncertainly stated. "What I felt was like an obsessive urge or pull that couldn't be ignored; I just had to physically come here. I thought you might be in distress or need me, but you didn't contact me." Nick nervously shifted in his seat. "I worried you might not want me to know or to help. I asked you here to see if you would even meet me, and maybe talk about what was going on over dinner."

Natalie uncomfortably fidgeted. Nick had told her before about this vague link he had with her. As had been explained during her recovery after she had encouraged Nick to bite her, their minds had touched and a connection had been forged. The mental bond wasn't consistent, or reciprocal, and sometimes she felt Nick picked up things that weren't really there. Nick had responded by saying it might be things she wasn't consciously aware of but were there nevertheless. "Nick, I don't know what to tell you, except that I will never push you away and I'm fine." Natalie put her hand upon his; she knew he could be very sensitive to rejection and abandonment, and sometimes feared the worse in situations, which explained what he had said to her.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes." Natalie shrugged. "A little stressed at work, but that's normal."

Nick's brows furrowed in concern. "Because I did sense something," he emphatically stated.

Natalie patted his hand reassuringly and wondered if Nick had created such a reason to justify coming here in person to meet this Maya researcher who was so interested in the jade cup. She knew the mind could be very powerful in its influence on the body and actions. Natalie decided to broach the subject she knew Nick tried hard to avoid. "Speaking of the mind and urges …."

Nick let out a heavy sigh as he slightly slumped and leaned his head onto the back of the chair. Staring at the ceiling, he said, "I kinda like the Crystal, especially the asymmetry of it."

"Nick," Natalie began, ignoring his diversionary tactic, "I really think we should look again into psychosomatic treatments as a cure."

"I imagine you don't get a full appreciation of the play of light through the structure unless you see it during the day, which isn't much of an option for me."

"I know we had tried hypnosis, and that didn't quite work," Natalie persisted in her conversation.

Nick rolled his head to face her. "I did what you asked and met with him. He didn't know what he was doing."

"And then you hypnotized him."

Nick grinned at the memory. "Guess I just had better technique than he did."

"But I'm still convinced that is a viable option we haven't exhausted yet."

Nick returned to staring at the ceiling. "Though with all the slanted walls of the new addition, it's hard to display objects, which does seem counter to the function of a museum."

"The mind is very powerful, Nick," Natalie continued, undeterred by his evasion. "Belief does have an effect on the body - you've seen that for yourself. You can't deny that."

Nick sat upright and leaned in closer to Natalie. "Yeah," he whispered to her, "and I also saw a person who wasn't whole. Nat, I don't want to be like Ellen was."

Natalie was going to respond, but more people had come into the room, and the ones standing and conversing had taken their seats, all good indicators that the presentation would begin soon. She resigned herself to postponing this conversation again.


	3. Chapter 3

Not much time had elapsed before Natalie heard the buzz of various conversations disappear and everyone turned to face the front of the room. A man she presumed was the guest presenter idled near the door, while an older man walked past the blank projector screen and stopped at the narrow lectern.

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. I would like to thank you all for coming to the ROM for tonight's presentation in The Alyce Hunter Memorial Lecture Series. For fifteen years this series has been able to host numerous distinguished presenters in all fields of natural and human history. Tonight, we have a presenter who works in the field I know was close and very dear to Dr Hunter herself. Please welcome Dr Ioan Trent who will speak on the excavations and findings at the recently discovered ancient Maya site in Belize."

Natalie clapped, along with everyone else in the audience, as the man walked away. The room quieted down and she watched as the other man, Dr Trent, headed to the front. Soon, the projector screen lit up with the first image, the title slide in white with black text which read: _Excavation of the Ancient Maya City of Luumtun Ka'anmul: Restoration, Relics, and Rituals_. Soon, the room was quiet again.

"I would like to begin my talk by again thanking everyone for coming out tonight and for being able to present in this lecture series. We have been working on this Maya site for a few years and it is a joint venture and with funding from the Royal Ontario Museum Governors, the Government of Belize, and the Maya Research Program in Belize. This is, of course, not the first Maya excavation by the ROM. Dr Hunter herself was involved in the excavation at the Altun Kinal site, which I believe had a very unique connection with Luumtun Ka'anmul. So let's begin with the location and initial survey of the area, along with some of the restoration and conservation already underway."

Natalie tried very hard to not appear bored looking at slides showing maps, then sketches of unearthed buildings, layouts of temple rooms, rebuilding practices that were being employed, and individual pictures of artifacts being discovered and cleaned. She knew from some quick glances at Nick that he was very interested in the presentation. Natalie guessed that he was comparing current archeological techniques to what he had personally used. She returned to forcing herself to focus again on the slides, which now showed various stone statues and carved figurines. Then one image caught her full attention – it was a photograph and a sketch she identified as Nick's Maya cup.

"This artifact, a cup carved from dark green jade, was found by Dr Alyce Hunter's team and was here to be part of the display of the excavation. This particular cup was, unfortunately, stolen soon after its arrival and never recovered. An identical cup from an earlier excavation at Altun Kinal was loaned to the ROM from a private collection and held here for years, recently being replaced with a replica. Now, I remember when I was younger hearing about and eventually seeing the Maya Exhibit here at the ROM. It inspired me to study the ancient Maya culture. So you can imagine my surprise and excitement when I found references to this jade cup."

The slide advanced and Natalie saw a sketch of a broken stone with a multitude of partially worn-down Mayan glyphs and a figure standing sideways. She could barely make out the image, but it appeared to be an individual with outstretched arms holding a cup in each hand. In her peripheral vision she saw Nick move and turned her head to look at him. He seemed introspective, and having observed that look many times, Natalie knew he was recalling some moment from his past, probably the moment he had first learned about this ritual cure. She focused again on the speaker.

"This is a nineteenth-century sketch that first identified the existence of the jade cups and the glyphs were translated. At the time, and with their understanding of how to translate, they said the text referred to a ritual found and practiced in one geographical area of the Maya civilization. Later, that area would be identified as the site called Altun Kinal. As I said, two excavations occurred there, one hundred years apart, and one ritual cup was found during each dig. So the original translation and interpretation done by European Mayanists and occultists was that a victim was sacrificed and their blood poured between these cups and then drunk. This was meant to treat or cure … something, possibly death or a state of death, and return the individual back to life. Since my subspecialty is ancient medical and healing practices, this ritual was fascinating to me. Of course, we have to be careful in how Mayan text is read and remember we cannot always apply our definitions or concepts of words where they might have had a different one. So this treatment, I believe, was not to actually bring the dead back to life, but a medical treatment clouded in mysticism.

"The Mayas believed the soul was composed of four parts: the breath, bone, blood, and shadow souls. When those portions were disturbed, an individual would become sick directly correlated to the level of disruption. The severity of illness could be so extreme that, it was believed, one or more parts of the soul would leave the body and begin to enter Xibalba, the Underworld, in which case the person was considered dead or in a state of death. However, with herbs, medicines, and other treatments from the shaman, the sick individual could recover. The shaman could have even put some of their own blood into the remedy, which might have been thought to help open the link to the spirit world and make it easier for the soul to come back, and that would explain the use of blood referenced in the text. Once the patient recovered, one could say that the individual, after being deathly ill, had been brought back to life. So, as I had mentioned, I was surprised when I uncovered another artifact with this same image and glyphs at Luumtun Ka'anmul."

Natalie leaned slightly forward in interest; the possibility that a medical treatment for vampirism had been known would be very useful for her own treatments on Nick. The speaker advanced to the next slide, which showed an opened document with the same image as the older sketch, only much clearer as the fine details had not been worn off or faded.

"This is a small torn piece of bark cloth and upon it you can see the exact same glyphs and individual holding the two cups. There were some other unrelated documents found in this small room, but nothing else that might be associated with this process: no cups, or bowls, or the other part of this document. So this item seemed very out of place, but I had a feeling we were close. For the Maya, Xibalba physically existed. Geographically, it was the river and cave system near Luumtun Ka'anmul, which was considered the actual entrance to the Underworld. Since this treatment seemed to involve individuals who were so ill their souls were entering Xibalba, I took a small group over to the cave entrance to see if there was something there that could be linked with this practice. It took a while, but we discovered a small structure. As such things usually go, it was found by accident when a member of my group was walking and got her foot stuck in a hole, which turned out to be the broken roof slabs of the buried building. Getting in and clearing out the debris, we found them."

A series of images went by on the projector screen which confused Natalie. Most of the photographs were of various angles of a green cup on a table and another cup in pieces on the floor. However, the design carved on the intact cup wasn't like Nick's cup, it was very different. She wondered what these cups had to do with the ones from Altun Kinal.

"There were two cups, also carved from green jade, found in a small subterranean room of the structure. One, as you can see, had fallen to the ground and broke, while the other remained on the table surface. The design carved on these cups are different than what is on the other set, however, that would soon be explained. When the back wall was cleared, we found a familiar scene. As you can see in this photograph, this wall has the same glyphs and individual as before, holding the cups. However, this design is more expansive, with additional text and this second individual seemingly to be receiving one of the cups from the original individual's most outstretched hand. There is also a single glyph above each cup, identifying them as non-identical. My theory is that different medicinal herbs and other material might have been prepared in the different cups, then by pouring the solutions back and forth between them, they would mix and allow time for the shaman to intone ritualistic phrases to evoke the assistance of various deities.

"Now, the glyph identifying each cup have been determined and do correspond to a small glyph carved on the cups themselves. It would thus appear the cups found at Altun Kinal were the representation of the Sun god Kinich Ahau, also known as the 'Face of the Sun,' while the complementary cups at Luumtun Ka'anmul were of the Jaguar God of the Underworld, called the 'Night Sun,' which was the form Kinich Ahau took when in Xibalba."

Natalie quickly turned to look at Nick, who was sitting tensely in his chair. If what she heard was correct, then that meant …. She leaned over and whispered, "Nick?"

"It was wrong." Nick turned to Natalie, who looked like she was in as much shock as he was. "I hadn't really done the ritual. That's why it didn't work."


	4. Chapter 4

_2007 Chicago, IL, USA_

Nick sat at the dining table staring at the half-filled wine glass of blood. He felt the stirring vampire waiting, the beast knowing it would eventually get the blood. Nick shifted his gaze to the left, landing on the ancient jade cup which promised a different future for him than darkness and eternally drinking blood. Under the bright light from the ceiling, the cup's golden repairs sparkled like the sun. Nick blinked a few times at their brightness as he reached for the wine glass. He quickly drained the remaining animal blood, finally satisfying his hunger. Not that his hunger ever got too demanding or more than he could control, he reflected. Ever since that night in Toronto when Natalie had offered her blood to him, his beast had calmed. The vampire's need for blood was far from gone, but he was more able to resist the temptation for human blood. This effect seemed like an undeserved gift after what he had put Natalie through, almost killing her. Nick placed the empty glass back down on the table. He would never do that to her again; he would never again let the vampire hurt her.

Nick reached out and snagged the Maya cup as he got up from the chair. Heading over to the living room, he finally flopped into the large leather armchair that was next to a small table. Not that it was really needed, but he clicked on the table lamp to provide more illumination. Nick ran his fingers across the cup's carved surface, so similar to the cup he had unearthed at Altun Kinal, which was currently with Ioan's lab. Nick rolled the cup in his hand, fingers still tracing over the cool, hard surface. He felt each of the five bumps along the side of the cup's face, then followed the scalloped design under the eye. Reaching the large eye, he traced along the multiple deep cuts that indicated the pupil, so close to the nose to show the eyes were cross-eyed. His fingertips lingered on the glyph at the top of the nose, then slid down the large beaked nose to the mouth. Nick skimmed over the grin of teeth, ending at the corner of the mouth where a long curved fang-like structure extended.

The telephone rang and, without looking, Nick reached over to the table to grab the receiver. After clicking the power button, he placed the phone on his shoulder and tilted his head to hold it in position. "Hello," Nick said, while his free hand resumed gliding over the cup.

" _Hey, Nick."_

He smiled hearing Natalie's voice. "Hey, Nat. Enjoying your night off?"

" _Oh, yes. I've been sitting here doing as much research as I can on Maya culture."_

"You're supposed to be relaxing and getting errands done and such."

" _I've already done that. Plus, this is important."_

Nick placed the cup gently on the table and grabbed the phone to hold against his other ear. "Nat, I appreciate that, but-"

" _I want to do this, Nick. Don't worry."_

"You sound tired." He listened to her muffled sigh.

" _Alright, I didn't get much sleep. I had the weirdest dream. There was this huge yellow and green snake with feathers and a large mouth. For what seemed like hours he kept circling around me as if waiting for me to do or say something. Then he lunged at me and, as his fangs struck, I woke up. Maybe I am spending just a bit too much time on this. It can't be good if I'm having dreams of the Maya Vision Serpent."_

Guilt surged and crashed within Nick. Natalie had never said, but he was sure a part of her remembered the sensation of his fangs piercing into her. And now she was getting so immersed into this vampirism cure that she was dreaming about another fanged creature biting her. Nick didn't want any part of her to re-live that particular attempt at a cure. "Nat, I know how focused you can get. Promise me you'll at least take a break every now and then, spend some time enjoying life."

" _I will."_

"So," Nick began in an attempt to shift Natalie away from remembering her dream, "what are you learning about now?"

" _Chocolate."_

Nick's lips curled into a lopsided grin. "A subject I know you enjoy."

" _Very much. Actually, I've been looking up cacoa. Did you know that, for the Maya, the cacoa drink was sacred and used in various ceremonies and rituals? After being poured from cup to cup multiple times to make lots of frothy foam, it was drunk by the elite and given as an offering to the gods."_

"I know people seem to really enjoy consuming anything chocolate, no matter its final form. Perhaps that drink should be the first food I try once I'm mortal again, since I'll be using their ritual cure." Nick listened to Natalie's positive reply, almost seeing the smile he knew she had.

" _Oh … wait. Just scrolled down to the bottom of the web page. Seems like, in imitation of an action the gods had once performed, sometimes the Maya added their own blood into the drink."_

"Well, we're trying to get me off a diet with blood, so let's avoid that one." Nick shifted in the chair so he could lean against the other armrest. "Why are you looking up chocolate anyway?"

" _Did you read Ioan's email?"_

Nick scrunched his eyes closed and gritted his teeth. "I was going to wait for you to explain it to me," he finally admitted.

" _Uh huh. Well, his analysis identified many organic compounds like theobromine that led him to conclude cacoa was used in the cups and I wanted to know why. His message also said that he translated some more of the glyphs of the ritual and Ioan thinks it says that after the ritual was completed, the cups were to be returned to their temples for either cleansing or rededication, something like that. He also says, for the ritual itself, that the solution in the cup from Altun Kinal is poured into the cup from Luumtun Ka'anmul, then poured back. So only one round of passing between the cups. And then, as the image showed, the Altun Kinal cup would be the one given to the sick individual to drink."_

"Given to the vampire," Nick corrected.

" _But remember, Nick, Ioan doesn't believe in vampires, though he does believe human blood was drunk from the cup."_

Nick leaned back into the chair and stared up at the ceiling in contemplation. Originally, so long ago, he had been told the high priest would drink the victim's sacrificed blood, but that had made no logical sense. The vampire was the one who needed to be cured, not the mortal; it was a vampire that drank blood, not a mortal. So he reasoned there actually was no priest involved, it was supposed to be the vampire who received the blood. And now, the role of the priest was back and vital, not for drinking the blood, but as the donor of the required blood. "The shaman is giving his blood to the vampire. He is the source of the sacrificed blood, not a separate victim. But why? What's so special about his blood?"

" _Well, Ioan thinks this is a medicinal treatment with a small amount of the shaman's blood added to it. He doesn't think the blood would have had any healing properties itself, just a psychosomatic one on the patient, who might have viewed the blood as blessed or holy in some way."_

Nick shuddered reflexively as a few painful memories surfaced; he knew how he reacted to holy objects.

" _Nick … what if this ritual isn't actually a cure for vampirism?"_

Nick immediately righted himself and shook his head, rejecting both her idea and trying to suppress the faint echo of similar phrases so often spoken by LaCroix. "No, I don't believe that. Is that what you're really thinking?"

" _I don't see much here in the analysis that would produce any kind of effect on your body. Ioan found some extracts that were identified as various local herbs, chili pepper, cacoa, and blood residue. If these cups were the ones used in this ritual, most of these ingredients don't make logical sense. I've had you drink various teas before and they didn't do anything to you."_

"They made me sick," Nick reminded her. He grimaced at the memories of the multiple times she had made him drink all sorts of different vile liquids. "But I know this, Nat: this ritual isn't for a sick mortal, it's for a vampire. I have absolutely no doubt about that."

" _Okay, just tossing the idea out there. The blood though; of everything, you would react to that. I know Ioan thinks it would be a small amount, and the text doesn't state exactly how much, but I keep thinking about what happened with Janette and what we did. I think it would take much more than a few drops of blood."_

"So totally giving up on any medical treatments for this one? Going to trust that it is the cups themselves, and the blood, nothing else?"

" _Cups aside, the only thing that makes sense for your physiology is the blood. If you want, you can go get some hot cocoa with spices from Buckstars, drink it, and let me know if it does anything for you. Since I doubt it will, that means the blood has to be the most important part, the only part you really need. As much as I wish otherwise, the other ingredients found were probably added simply because the shaman was used to using those compounds and they weren't really even needed."_

A thought occurred to Nick and he leaned back against the chair and stared at the ceiling again. "Nat, do you think the shaman might have added those other components because they were considered holy and it was needed to finally drive the vampire out?" He had always assumed it would be a struggle to fight off the vampire, he didn't want to think about doing that while also being hurt and weakened by holy material.

" _Nick, even if that was true, which I don't believe, I'm not going to perform this ritual with you drinking holy water. You'll get hurt too much and I don't think having you weakened will be beneficial."_

"Thank you for that." Nick let out a long sigh and switched the phone to his other ear; the muscles in his neck were getting strained. "So what do we do about the blood? Does this mean I have to get a priest? That could be a bit awkward."

" _Let me handle that part, Nick. I can get the donated blood we'll need. On the subject of blood, that seems to be the only thing he found in your cup."_

"Well, I had been using and washing that cup for about a century; I'm sure any other trace substances were gone long ago. And it's not like I could give Ioan the reconstructed cup for analysis - how would I explain having that one?"

" _Speaking of LaCroix - have you talked to him about what we're doing?"_

"No. You know how he is," Nick huffed as he slumped lower in the chair. "LaCroix would just say it's nonsense and won't work, just like the last time. And if this time the ritual doesn't work, no reason for him to know we had even tried."

" _So what now? Ioan's completed his analysis."_

"He's going to send both cups to you. I gave him your address at the Coroners Building."

" _And what am I supposedly doing with them, in case he calls asking for an update."_

"Measuring and weighing them. My stipulation was we would get the cups for complete documentation along with creating a very high-quality replica of the cup from Luumtun Ka'anmul. Ioan's current budget didn't allow him to get a replica made."

"So they should be arriving soon?"

"Yes," Nick confirmed as glanced over to the corner where his travel bag was partially packed. "And I'll be coming over soon as well."


	5. Chapter 5

_2007 Toronto, ON, Canada_

Nick sat on the dining room chair in Natalie's apartment, his flannel-lined heavy jacket draped over the back. On the table before him were both jade cups, their grinning faces staring back at him. On his right was the one he had unearthed at Altun Kinal, the cup depicting the Face of the Sun. To his left was its complementary match, the stone carved into the likeness of the Night Sun. Nick leaned back. He wondered how many years it had been since both these cups were together to be used for the ritual they would be performing that morning. As a quickly passing thought, Nick also hoped the cups remembered how to work together.

Nick finally reached over and claimed the left cup. It was the same general size and shape of his cup and made from the same dark green jade. As he had done so many times before with his own cups, he felt along the carved features. He started at the top, his fingertips running over the large eye, cross-eyed just as on the other cup, until the pupil was reached. He lingered there, tracing the deeply carved spiral pupil whose design, Ioan had told him, was to indicate this being was from the Underworld. Leaving the eye, Nick's fingers followed the rope-like thread that ran under the eye, went up and over the nose, twisted, then went down and under the other eye. His thumb stroked along the scalloped design under the eye while the rest of his hand went over to the ear. Just as the animal it was representing, there was a triangular cat ear design along the side of the cup. Abandoning the ear, he returned to the front. Underneath a small glyph and a narrow nose was the grinning mouth and, on each side, a single curved fang-like structure.

From the adjoining kitchen, Natalie watched Nick inspect the Jaguar cup from Luumtun Ka'anmul. Though she had initially gone along with this, hoping Ioan's analysis would reveal some chemical substance that she could build a cure upon, she continued because she hoped this might still help Nick. He needed to try this, and she knew Nick needed her to see this ritual through to the end with him. Natalie also thought she might be able to influence and convince him something had worked and, if that belief was strong enough, it could result in a physical effect. Since Nick said he had a mental connection to her, Natalie intended to make full use of that link. She glanced at the digital clock on her microwave. "Nick, it's about time to start prepping."

"Alright," Nick replied, as he placed the cup back down on the table. He got up and followed her over to the living room space, which was where they would actually be performing the ritual. The furniture had been rearranged, the pieces pushed back to make a cleared area in the middle.

"So," Natalie began as she picked up a small pile of paper and a bowl. "We are going to do this ritual as close to how such ceremonies were probably done, given what Ioan had been able to figure out. He reminded us again that translations can be tricky and there are glyphs they still don't really know the meaning to."

"Nat, I understand. And thank you again for helping me with this one."

Natalie simply nodded. "Ioan thinks the patient was in a near-death state and their soul leaving the living realm and going into the spirit realm. I'm not going to let you have a near-death experience; once was quite enough. So to gain access to the spirit realm we're going to do it another way. When the ancient Maya wanted to interact with the gods, they needed to open a doorway, so to speak." She held up the paper and bowl. "Auto-sacrifice was the preferred type of bloodletting and the way to connect to the other realm."

Nick stared in disbelief at the bowl. "You want me to …."

"You will have to cut yourself and let some of your blood drip onto the paper. Then you'll light the paper on fire and burn it and the blood. The rising smoke looks like a snake, which is the pathway."

Nick frowned at the thought. "Fire and vampires don't mix well."

Natalie put the bowl down next to the lighter on the table. "I have a fire extinguisher if there's a problem. After that I'll take the donated blood, pass it between the cups, you drink and …."

"And?" Nick prompted when she hadn't said anything more.

Natalie shrugged. "And we'll see."

"There might be another a problem," Nick reluctantly said. He had long ago realized that, when performing this ritual, he would have to release the final hold he had on the vampire. He was sure, once the vampire realized what was going on, it would fight back and would need strength for that. Strength it would get by feeding on human blood and Natalie had been its victim once before. "The vampire, fresh human blood, a mortal in the room. I hope the ritual quickly works, then I'll be mortal and in control, but if not, then anything could happen and I …."

Natalie reached over and rubbed Nick's arm reassuringly. "I have precautions in case the ritual doesn't go as quickly or smoothly as we hope. We'll be doing this close to sunrise and the curtain will be open so this part of the room will have sunlight. I'll be in the light and you will be in the unlit portion, with access to the kitchen where there are bottles of animal blood, if needed. You can drink there and come back out when you're ready."

Nick gave a tiny smile as he nodded; Natalie planed well. "Nat, you researched and prepared so much, for all of this."

Natalie gave a small shrug of her shoulder. "I like to be thorough."

"So about the blood, does it come from different people?" Nick knew he would need to be prepared for the chaotic combination of clashing images and feelings that would be picked up from a mixed sample. Nick waited, but Natalie didn't answer him. "Nat, whose blood are we using?"

Natalie took a couple steps back. "You know, Nick, I think I actually prefer the ROM's Crystal at night."

"Nat, please, don't change the topic. Where did you get this blood?"

Natalie knew he would not be pleased with her answer, and she had hoped Nick wouldn't have asked before he drank it. "Actually, it will be my blood," she confessed.

Nick let out a deep growl and quickly turned away. Now he understood why she never brought that up. He knew drinking her blood, and her being in the same room with him, would be too dangerous. Nick wouldn't put her in that situation, no matter if it was for a cure. "No," he snarled.

"Why not?" Natalie immediately demanded.

Nick twisted around to face her again. The last time he took her blood he almost killed her, and it was only with LaCroix's help he was able to save her. He didn't understand how she could have forgotten that. "After what happened before? What were you thinking?"

"That Janette didn't use the blood of a shaman, or a priest, or a random stranger." Natalie advanced closer to Nick. "She used the blood of a man whom she loved and who loved her back. I love you, Nick," she declared, "and I know you love me." Natalie scowled; he continued to look irritated. "Were you hoping for another's?"

"But," Nick protested, "the ritual said-"

"The ritual says it's for a sick mortal and the cups had many compounds that have no effect on you. You don't believe in that part of the ritual, so why believe another part of it? It doesn't have to be a random priest, Nick. You were the one who said that getting my blood helped you with your control. Why shouldn't we use my blood again?"

"Because you barely survived last time!" Nick dropped his gaze. "If LaCroix had not-"

"We would both not be here if LaCroix hadn't saved us."

"But he's not here now. Nat, I can't take that risk. You'll be weak from the blood loss, unable to defend yourself at all. I'll attack you, the vampire wanting more than what you've already given."

"That's why I'm mostly using bagged blood."

"Bagged?" Nick quizzically asked.

"Yes, Nick. I don't intend for this to end like the last time. I've been making small donations and saving them. We'll use that blood and I'll just add a little bit of fresh blood into the mix, but not enough to weaken me at all. I'll be fine." Natalie watched him move away from her and drop onto the couch. Nick didn't look entirely pleased, but she knew he would do it. She was logically the best choice and he would eventually trust in her plan.

Nick watched as Natalie began preparing the area, laying everything out she needed, and when she left the room. He heard her in the dining area, then the clinking sound as she gathered both the cups, and finally the squeak of her shoes on the kitchen floor. He thought about the last time she volunteered her blood, while also trying to not remember the taste or the rapture he had felt enveloped in her love and acceptance. He did not need the vampire rising up to try that again. Instead, Nick focused on what he had done to Natalie, how LaCroix had come and kept him from taking more while also trying to save her. He hadn't been allowed into the hospital while she was recovering, but his maker had monitored her, so closely and carefully, every night checking on her. LaCroix had been worried Natalie might try to partially come across and become a Hunter, the fate of the half-drained who somehow managed to survive and remain mortal. Nick, knowing he couldn't condemn her to his type of existence, had only been worried if she would die. But Natalie had pulled through, and aside from his vague connection to her, nothing seemed to have changed in her. They had been able to inform the Enforcers she was still mortal and not a Hunter, so she didn't have to be killed. And now he and Natalie were performing another cure that involved her blood, the risk of a repeat of that event very high. Nick knew he should stop this, but Natalie wanted to do this, and she was just as aware of the risks as he was having gone through it once before.

Nick got up from the couch and went into the kitchen. Natalie was standing with her back towards him, her hair pulled up and the curve of her neck exposed. On the left side of her neck, barely noticeable to mortals but obvious to him, were the scars of the twin punctures his fangs had made. He also saw on the counter multiple glass bottles of blood, along with the jade cups and a small bag of blood. Her blood. "Nat," he softly began, "I am sorry. I just didn't want you to get hurt again. I am still afraid of what might happen. But I should have also realized, with all this planning, you know what you're doing." Nick took a deep breath. "I should have trusted in you," he firmly stated.

Natalie turned around to face Nick. "I just want the best chance of this working because we are only doing this now - I'm not coming back to these cups again."

Nick nodded. "I understand." He glanced at the Maya cups again. "So how much blood do you want to use? The cups are large; I always assumed they needed to be completely filled."

"Yes, I worked on that assumption as well, so I got enough for that, and backup."

"Backup?"

"Yes," Natalie responded, seeing Nick's surprised expression. She went over to the refrigerator and opened the door, revealing food and a narrow shelf holding a few small bags of blood. "In case we need to change a variable like the temperature of the blood, or if the blood spills because a cup was dropped, or something else."

"' _Or something else'_?" Nick incredulously repeated. He couldn't imagine what else could happen that more blood would be needed.

"Nick, I intend to be prepared for as many situations as possible," Natalie responded as she closed the appliance door. She went over to the counter to check the temperature of the blood bag to make sure it was no longer too cold. "There's just one thing I still don't understand in all of this."

"Just one?"

"Why would the Maya go to such lengths to hide this cure? Why did it have to be a secret? Breaking tablets, tearing documents in half, making it seem like it was a treatment for a mortal - why? Why wouldn't they want to make it easier to help someone come back across?"

Nick sighed as he shrugged. "Who knows? With the Spanish coming, they might have been trying to keep the knowledge secret to prevent the conquerors from getting it and completely destroying the cups and the ritual. But not everything was hidden so those who knew what to look for could find it again. Or they didn't want it generally known. You know how far the Enforcers will go to keep knowledge of vampires and Hunters hidden; it might have been similar for the Maya for their own reasons." His gaze quickly darted to the clock and was about to say something, but Natalie was already in motion.

Natalie took the Altun Kinal cup and placed it on the counter in front of her. She reached over to grab the blood bag and a pair of scissors. She cut open a corner of the bag and poured the whole contents into the cup. She had recalled when Nick had told her about how vampires can pick up echoes of emotions and thoughts in the blood. So when she had made these donations, she thought only about the ritual and it helping him. Ideally, the suggestion would implant and some part of Nick would believe it. She carefully held the filled cup and took the other one, then headed towards the living room, Nick following close behind. Carefully, she placed the cups on the table. Picking up the bowl, she handed it to Nick. "Let me get you the scalpel."

"No need for that." Nick held the bowl with the paper in his left hand, while he brought his right wrist up to his mouth. Letting his fangs descend, he sliced the skin on the sharp canine. Holding the wound over the bowl, he let the blood drip onto the paper, soaking the material. Once the blood stopped and the cut healed, Nick placed the bowl on the table, not wanting to light the paper while it was in his hand. As his fangs retracted, he took the lighter and ignited the paper. He quickly moved back as the vampire blood began to swiftly burn and the smoke sinuously twisted upwards. He took a few moments to calm back down from the sense of danger the smell of his own burning blood had evoked.

Natalie took a deep breath, then focused on helping Nick. She wiped an alcohol pad across her fingertip and got the sterile disposable scalpel. Natalie made a quick cut, let the fresh blood drop into the filled cup, then put down the scalpel. She cleaned the cut and began reaching for an adhesive bandage but was stopped by Nick, who had an already opened one in his hand. Natalie held still while he placed the bandage, gently wrapping it around her finger so it was snug, but not too tight. "Thank you, Nick," she softly said.

"Nat, whatever happens, thank you for believing enough and helping me with this one."

Natalie nodded and smiled, then returned to the cups. She concentrated, then took the blood-filled cup in her left hand and the other cup in her right. She poured her blood into the empty cup, then poured it back. Natalie saw the beginning of sunrise through the window as she held out the cup of Kinich Ahau to Nick.

Nick took the jade cup, glanced at the blood, which had a few bubbles on the surface, then focused on Natalie again. She had looked so determined when pouring the liquid and his link to her had delicately hummed, but he had not gleaned any thought or emotion from her. "What were you thinking about?"

"I was thinking about you coming back into the light from the darkness, just as the blood was put back to the Sun cup from the Jaguar cup." Natalie gave Nick a focused look. "Whatever happens, at the end of this you will still be what you are: a good man." 

Nick acknowledged what she had said, then returned his gaze to the cup. After over a hundred years it was finally time to perform and finish the ritual. Closing his eyes, he relaxed, then drank Natalie's blood as quickly as possible. He felt the vampire rise, a reaction to her blood he had just ingested, while his link to her intensely vibrated. Opening his eyes, Nick's attention was immediately drawn to the faint trail of gray smoke that was still rising off the burnt paper. Looking around, he noticed everything was devoid of color. Then the room tilted.

"Nick!" Natalie screamed while she dove to the floor after Nick had toppled over. She had seen the flash of his green-rimmed golden eyes and lifting his eyelids she saw they were still changed and had rolled upward. "Oh God, what did I do," Natalie brittlely whispered as she tried to determine if he could still hear her and respond. "Nick!"


	6. Chapter 6

Nick squeezed his eyelids shut, the mental link with Natalie resonating so much that his whole head was pounding in pain. Slowly, the vibrating link calmed down which allowed him to become more aware of himself and the surroundings. Nick could feel a hard stone underneath him and, realizing he was lying on his back, levied himself into a sitting position and looked around. He blinked a few times, but nothing changed - he was surrounded by a thick light-gray fog that prevented him from seeing much beyond a couple feet ahead. There was illumination, though he couldn't tell where it was coming from. Placing a hand on the stone floor, Nick carefully pushed himself up and, though he felt slightly off-balance, was finally able to stand upright. The gray haze swirled around him, covering and obscuring the ground, but nothing else changed. Nick decided to stay where he was rather than venture around since he had no idea where to even go. Finally, the faint residual thumping in his head ceased.

He found the place eerily quiet. As Nick turned around, the only sound was what he created as his shoes scraped along the stone. Then he heard a rustling noise. Standing perfectly still, Nick tried to determine where the sound had come from, but the silence had returned. He took a few slow breaths then heard Natalie call his name, the faint disembodied sound echoing strangely before stopping. He didn't have too much time to think about that before he again heard the rustling, scraping sound from before, but much closer and coming from all around him, as if circling him. Nick saw the mist in front of him swirl, the substance agitated enough that some of it rose up, like the smoke trail from an extinguished candle. Suddenly, the haze cleared and something very tall and dark yellow materialized in front of him. Nick leapt back as a large yellow serpent head with a green mouth quickly emerged above him.

Nick twisted around and as the fog moved he could catch glimpses of the thick serpent body completely surrounding him. Returning to once again face the head, he was surprised the serpent was devoid of color. He was sure the head had been yellow before.

"Are you the one who summoned me?"

Nick remained quiet while shocked that the serpent could talk. Then more of the serpent's head came out from the thick mist, and he could now observe a cowl of dark gray feathers that encircled the head.

"Are you the one who opened the connection between the realms?" 

Nick figured this must have been the creature Natalie has seen in her dream, though he didn't recall her mentioning that it had spoken to her. Before he could answer the question, he got the distinct impression the Vision Serpent was irritated. It shook its body, the feathers and scales making a rasping sound and for a moment, colors skipped over its surface, and Nick saw again the yellow scales but also specks of red and the iridescent reds and greens of the feathers. Just as quickly as they appeared the colors disappeared and the head came even closer. Nick stood perfectly still as the serpent's forked tongue flicked out and then retracted.

"You are difficult to see, but your blood smells the same as the offering. Whom do you desire to speak to?"

This time Nick was faster with his answer. "The sun god, Kinich Ahau." He watched as the serpent tilted back, then opened its mouth. Once fully opened, the mandibles spread outward, allowing the large mouth to widen even more. He stepped back as the head dropped down, almost touching the ground. From the darkness inside the creature's mouth a man began to emerge and Nick backed away even more. Once completely out, he heard the serpent slither away. Nick focused on the individual before him. The man had the traditional outfit of the Maya nobles Nick had seen in various images, a feathered headdress, along with jade necklaces and earlobe plugs. As with the serpent, Nick saw the man in shades of gray, but periodically color would ripple across the surface and then he would see the intense greens and reds of the material.

"I am Kinich Ahau. Who are you?"

"I am-" Nick began, but halted when he felt a pressure in his mind. Instinctively he tried to fight the intrusion but then forced himself to stop. There was, after all, no danger and this was the ritual he wanted to perform. The mental touch continued, reminding him of the sensation he experienced when LaCroix entered to search for something. Abruptly the connection ended.

"Nicholas. ' _Who you are'_ might not have been the best question. ' _What you are'_ would have been more appropriate. I do not have many vampires summoning me."

"But you have before?"

"You evoked my ritual."

"Yes," Nick slowly replied. "But you didn't answer my question." He saw Kinich Ahau stiffen and colors skittered across the feathers.

"My prerogative. You evoked the ritual, so it will be done. Come along."

Nick watched as the god quickly pivoted and strode into the gray mist. He sighed; centuries of interactions with LaCroix had left him very familiar with being given abrupt orders and his questions not being answered. He knew standing there would not help, so Nick followed and the smoke-like material parted before of him, but only enough to see a couple of paces ahead. "Where are we going?"

"Watch your step."

The mist parted and Nick had just enough time to see steps leading downward and adjusted his stride so he wouldn't trip. After four steps, he was once again on the flat ground. "So where are we going?"

"To the end of Xibalba. That is why you are here: to arrive at the end. I know the way, so you will follow me."

Nick stared ahead. He still couldn't see much through the ever-present platinum fog, but there were other changes to the environment. Instead of silence, he heard echoes of dripping water landing into a liquid, as opposed to splattering onto the stone ground. The air also smelled of dampness and wet earth. "Is this Xibalba?"

"No. You will know when we actually enter."

Nick doubted that assertion. If the fog continued to surround them, he wouldn't be able to see the difference. He followed the god and eventually came to a small barrier wall. Peering down, he saw his reflection in the contained water. "What is this?"

"We need to wait for another. He will come from the water."

Nick glanced at Kinich Ahau, but the god was focused on the water. Nick heard a faint plopping sound and looked back into the dark pool, which had small circular ripples bobbing along the surface. He leaned in closer and caught a quick flash of white, but it dove down. After a few moments, the water surface was disturbed again and Nick discovered what had caused the agitation: a little pale salamander. He watched as the amphibian hovered just below the water's surface and could clearly see the small legs, large tail, and the multiple red feathered gills on each side of the neck. Nick recognized the species: the axolotl. Slowly, he dipped his hand into the water to help the creature out, but was stopped.

"I would not do that. He bites."

A tug on his arm was all it took for Nick to allow himself to be pulled from the pool. As soon as he was further away, a large creature surfaced and breached the water, surging out and landing onto the ground. It looked like a massive salamander, but then it shook itself, showering water everywhere and Nick watched as the creature's shape changed into a huge stone beast, then shrank down into a dog. The dog finished drying its fur and once still, looked directly at him. He recognized the short dark fur, light brown muzzle, and the brown eyes that showed no fear of him. "Raleigh?" Nick quickly covered the distance and dropped down on one knee in front of the dog. He reached up tentatively to stroke the black fur, but before he made contact the dog pushed its head into his chest. Nick tipped his head into the fur and wrapped his arms around the dog. Automatically, the centuries-old memories of his last moments with Raleigh came to his mind, along with the emotions. "I'm so sorry, boy; I didn't want to hurt you." The memory of what he had done was painful, but touching the dog was calming. Nick leaned back and was rewarded with being licked all over his face. He stood up, and Raleigh sat down and leaned against his leg. Nick found that the pressure and warmth of the dog against him was a very comforting sensation.

"Interesting form you took."

"What?" Nick quizzically asked as Raleigh leaned more into his leg while issuing a contented huff.

"That is Xolotl, my guard dog. He is a shapeshifter and apparently chose his final form based on you. Well, we have him now, so let us continue the journey."

Nick felt Raleigh get up and push against his leg. Prodded on, he followed Kinich Ahau while the dog ran ahead, Nick losing sight of the animal in the ever-present fog. He could hear the sound of Raleigh's paws and nails striking the ground, and soon enough the dog was back with them, before running off again. Nick heard Raleigh scamper down steps, so was not surprised when the mist parted reveling seven steps for him to walk down. This lower level was still enshrouded with fog, but it was now a darker color than in the previous areas. Even Kinich Ahau seemed to be a darker gray than before, and Nick was startled when the god continued to become darker still. Nick sensed a change in the air, a distinct sensation akin to danger, so he stopped, his body preparing for a fight. He was startled when Raleigh came bounding through the fog and rubbed against his leg, and once again the presence of the dog relaxed him. He looked down to pet Raleigh, so didn't notice until too late that someone he didn't recognize was standing before him. Nick leapt back, fangs descended and let out a warning growl.

"I told you that you would know when we had entered Xibalba."

Recognizing the voice, Nick relaxed and retracted his fangs while he studied the man before him. Instead of the garb from before, there was now a dark jaguar design across his body, a golden color flashing periodically. In place of the feathered headdress there was now a fanged feline mask, though the mask seemed more organic, more a living part of him than just something he wore: the mask moved with him. A thick belt held a long thin dark patterned cloth that hung down the front and back and gave the impression of a cat's tail. "Kinich Ahau? No," Nick corrected himself, "the Night Sun."

"Jaguar God of the Underworld. You seem puzzled by all of this. What did you think would happen? You would drink from my cups and that would be all?"

Nick let out a short exhale of breath. "Well, I thought something different might happen. I didn't think I would actually be here. Am I here?"

"Yes and no. You are here; your physical body is wherever you left it."

"So how, exactly, physically, is this a cure? So far all we are doing is walking and-" Nick watched the Jaguar turn and head into the mist, then jogged to catch up. "Why won't you tell me?"

"We have a long trek, and that will give you something to think about along the way."

Nick shook his head in resignation but continued to walk through the haze with the god in his new form. Raleigh, he noted, had no trouble with the soot-colored mist, often running off alone. Sometimes he would hear a scuffle and the snap of jaws and he worried for the dog, but Raleigh would always come bounding back unscathed. After a long period of silence, Nick decided to ask a different type of question. "I thought you were supposed to be carrying the Sun through the Underworld."

"We shall discuss that later."

With another question left unanswered, Nick slid back into their silence. They all walked for a time, Nick finding it impossible to calculate its passage or even how far they had traversed. He now knew exactly how Natalie had felt in her dream of just waiting for something to happen.

"You know, Natalie would have been an excellent shaman for my people; helping them and administering the rituals to readjust the balance of life."

"I know Nat has greatly helped me." Nick watched Raleigh scamper off again. "So she did the ritual correctly?"

"You are here."

Nick was about to respond when he heard Raleigh let out a series of excited barks, then the sound of bats flying away. He looked to where the sounds originated from, but still only saw the dark swirling mist.

"What is it you seek?"

Nick returned his gaze to the god. "To be mortal; to be human again."

"Why bother? An altered form will not change or rectify what you did when you embraced your vampire."

Nick felt his guilt, and fear, surface. Jaguar's words were the ones he often heard LaCroix utter, and in some of his darkest moments, what he also thought. And it was in those times Nick kept from wavering by holding on to one idea. "It's the only way to undo my mistake and free myself so I can have a chance to be reclaimed to God's grace." He saw the golden colors flash along the Jaguar's skin.

"How should I react to that? You appeal to a god outside your religion so that you may join with that other one?"

A spike of irritation ran through Nick. "You knew I was not Maya. Why did you continue with me then?"

"You summoned me. For over one hundred years you have sought my cups. Why did you continue with my ritual since it was outside your religion, the religion of the god that says to follow and receive blessings from no other deity?"

"What I am already places me outside and away from God. I made the choice long ago that I would seek a cure from anywhere and do whatever it takes to become mortal again," Nick snapped back.

"' _Do whatever it takes_ '? Will you give your burden to Natalie like you did with Marian?"

"I took that back," Nick quickly interjected.

"Will you take everything from Natalie that she has to give? Would you hurt her? Would you have her killed if that meant you could be mortal?"

"No," Nick emphatically declared, repulsed by the accusation. "What sort of monster do you take me for?"

"But I ask again, why pursue my ritual? You know how to become mortal, as Janette was able to."

"Nat almost died helping me do that," Nick rumbled. "I won't do that to her again."

"Good. Remember your priorities: you found something more important than your mortality, and you are not willing to sacrifice Natalie for that."

Jaguar's kind tone indicated their spat was over, though Nick still felt his emotions in turmoil. He continued walking on in silence, thinking. He wondered if their argument had been some sort of test, and if not, when was the real test. He had thought he might have to confront or fight his vampire, but they had done nothing that seemed like it would dislodge that darkness from him. "So this ritual," Nick eventually said, "it's supposed to be a cure for vampirism."

"No, not a cure from vampirism."

"I don't understand."

"Yes, you do. It is the thought you never really wanted to consider, the one voiced by your maker and Natalie and so many others."

Nick halted and squeezed his eyes shut, trying to keep his emotions contained as to not be swept away or crushed by them. The one explanation he had always refused to accept as truth was now painfully forcing itself to be recognized. Nick felt something fuzzy push into his hand. He ignored it, but heard whining and opened his eyes to see Raleigh insistently push into his hand again. Nick relented and scratched the dog's head; the action distracted him from the roiling emotions, and eventually he felt more in control as his mind calmed. "So it wasn't a cure? This ritual won't cure me?"

"No. Mortals tend to seek methods for immortality, not usually how to return from it. And of monsters, well, most just want to know how to kill them, not reform them. You know what your kind has done and why most humans want them dead. I am sorry this was not what you thought it would be."

Nick kept the disappointment from overwhelming him. He had hundreds of disappointments, and this would just be one more to add to the pile. Next to him, Raleigh shifted and growled at something in the dark fog but did not leave his side. The fact that Raleigh stayed with him helped; he didn't feel dismissed and abandoned. But what Jaguar had said still left him confused; he had always been so sure it was a cure and not some treatment for a sick mortal. "If this ritual doesn't cure a vampire," Nick forced himself to ask, "then what is it for?"

"It is a cure to vampirism."

"What do you mean?"

"My ritual prevents someone from becoming a vampire after being bitten by destroying the infection with the holy. From the sickened person I would take their sacred ember of life through this realm and put it back into their mortal body once the infection has been cleared out. This ritual cannot suppress or remove the vampire from an already fully converted individual."

"Then why hide all of this if the ritual would help mortals?"

"To protect all of this from them, the ones you call Enforcers. This ritual prevented a victim from dying because of the attack. The person would be spared the pain and madness caused by the infected bite, and would allow them to stay alive and sane. However, as you know, there are some changes in those survivors. What you worried about for Natalie, the creation of a Hunter, they worry about as well. Your Enforcers do not like Hunters. Hunters are individuals with the knowledge of vampires, intimate knowledge of your weaknesses, and an unstoppable compulsion to expose and kill your kind. So the Enforcers seek to destroy the methods to make them. Convert or die, Enforcers do not tolerate any other state."

Nick was familiar with their preference and knew, once converted, you never revealed the existence of vampires to outsiders, or the Enforcers would come for you. He also knew they saw most of the cures he sought as a threat, which is why he rarely disclosed what he was attempting. Nick then felt a stab of guilt slam into him. Not only was this ritual not a cure for him, but was, in fact, a method to help victims like Natalie from the bite of a vampire like him. The irony of Natalie helping him with a cure actually meant for her was not lost on him.

"And then the conquerors came and the hidden knowledge, and how to find it, was finally lost and became a myth, as your kind are."

Nick let the silence that had developed continue. He was sure Jaguar expected him to say something, but instead he forced his mind to be blank as he stared into the dark fog.

"What are you thinking?"

"I think I need to stop since there is no point in continuing."

"You cannot stop, and I cannot leave you here. You have to come to the end with me."

Nick shrugged as he returned his gaze to Jaguar. "Why?"

"To finish what was begun. It is what I do: I bring light into the darkness and help it pass through this realm to return it back to life. Your light is enveloped by so much darkness, but I will still help it complete this journey and return you to the living realm. So come along, we are almost at the end."

Nudged by Raleigh, Nick reluctantly trailed after the Jaguar god. No one spoke, and Raleigh didn't rush off but continued to stay by his side. The dog might have been protecting him from unknown dangers in the surrounding area, but Nick found more comfort in having Raleigh remain next to him instead. Eventually, they reached a short set of stairs rising up and they stopped at the base. Nick had a feeling this was the end, but looking up, he still saw the dark fog and no indication of a door or other type of exit.

"You are a good man, Nicholas; your answer to my question showed that. I am sorry I cannot give you the life you seek by taking the darkness from you. I cannot take darkness, only go into it."

"I understand." Nick knelt down to rub and hug Raleigh one last time. The dog licked him in return, then trotted back into the mist, growing in size as it shifted forms. Nick stood, pivoted and, with only the Jaguar god next to him, climbed up the stairs. Once at the top, the fog, still as thick as before, had turned back to the light platinum gray color as when this journey had begun. Glancing over, Nick saw that his travel companion had resumed his Kinich Ahau form.

"Be carefully when you wake. You understand the vampire, you know how it will react after drinking a cupful of Natalie's blood and her still being near you. You will try to take more."

Nick was fully aware of what could happen, had dreaded that happening. He began to mentally prepare himself for the struggle to re-control and re-constrain his beast.

"Resist the vampire's fight. You are stronger than you realize. Natalie gave you that, so use it."

"I will," Nick vowed. "I won't let her be hurt like that again." He turned and began to walk towards the mist, pulled by a growing impulse to leave. A hand clasped onto his arm after he had only traversed a couple of steps. Nick stopped and turned to face Kinich Ahau.

"I could not give you what you wanted, but I can give you something else instead. I can bring light into your darkness."

Nick stood still as Kinich Ahau reached out a finger and touched his forehead. From that point of connection, he felt warmth. As the sensation spread, the tissue continued to become hotter and he dropped his fangs and hissed in response. Nick squeezed his eyelids shut and roared in pain as he endured a blinding flash of light and his whole body seared as if exposed to the sun itself.


	7. Chapter 7

Natalie continued to sit on the floor next to Nick, guarding him. She had not been able to wake him, and he hadn't responded to anything she had done. Natalie watched the rapid movement of his eyes under the eyelids, an indication he was deeply asleep and dreaming and not in a coma. Every now and then she would glance warily at the sunlight advancing along the floor. Prior, when the light had gotten too close, she had moved Nick further back into the darkness. Natalie frowned – she calculated that he would need to be moved again in a few minutes.

Natalie heard a groan and immediately returned her attention back to Nick. She first registered that his eyes were now open, still golden in color and seemed to be unfocused. Before she could say a word, those eyes moved, focused on her, and Nick lunged upward. Natalie, still on the floor, quickly scampered backwards to get into the sunlight, the only safe place from the snarling, fanged vampire lying before her.

Nick closed his eyes and roared in pain. His head was pounding and his whole body felt like it had been burned by the sun. He was weak and the vampire knew precisely what was needed to properly heal: blood. And there was a mortal with a warm supply of blood not too far from him. With a low snarl, Nick quickly rolled onto his side and used his arms to raise himself up. He opened his eyes and focused on the heated body retreating before him. He moved swiftly, driven only by vampire instinct to hunt and catch his prey. However, the mortal had quickly moved, and was now bathed in a puddle of sunlight. The vampire screamed to retreat, the centuries-old drive to protect itself from dangers like the sun forced Nick back into the darkness. He howled in frustration, the vampire irritated at being denied its victim while Nick struggled to restrain his beast. The mortal would not be hurt, she would not be hurt by him again. Nick thought recognizing Natalie would lend more strength to his control, but instead the vampire wanted to attack even more, to reclaim the prey it had lost once before. Nick forced himself back even more into the darkened area, while still trying to re-contain the fully emerged vampire, and not sure how long he could continue. He knew, in this state, the vampire would only calm down once fed.

Natalie watched, helpless in the sunlight, while Nick struggled. She wanted to go over to him, but she understood that would only make what he was going through worse. Nick was trying to protect her and she knew staying put would be the best to help with that. Natalie saw Nick back up more, then he was gone. A moment later she heard the refrigerator door in the kitchen open.

Nick held the first blood bag he pulled out from the refrigerator. He brought it up to his mouth and sank his fangs through the thin plastic to extract out Natalie's blood. Tightening his grip, he quickly drained the bag and dropped it to the floor as he reached into the appliance to claim the second one. The blood entered his mouth and this time he registered the taste before swallowing. The liquid tasted exactly as he remembered from the first time he received Natalie's blood, though now it was cold instead of body temperature. Regardless, it satisfied the vampire and Nick was able to suppress the beast. He leaned against the counter as he calmed back down. The throbbing in his head, finally identified as his link to Natalie, also subdued. He felt more in control, though weakened and still hungry. He reached for one of the glass bottles of animal blood Natalie had placed on the counter. Looking at the hand that gripped the bottle, he was surprised the skin wasn't burnt. It had felt like it had been burned completely off. Pushing that thought aside for the moment, he popped the cork out using his teeth and drained the bottle.

Natalie remained sitting in the light next to the window, legs pulled up and her chin resting on her knees. She didn't want to be so far from Nick, but he had insisted. At least for now. Nick was where he had been after returning from the kitchen, curled on his side upon the floor in the darkness that bordered on the sunlight, cradling the jade cup he had excavated at Altun Kinal. Natalie knew he was dejected by the results, as was she. He was still a vampire, and it did not appear that anything had changed. Considering how he had reacted after drinking her blood, she was sure something would have had an effect. "I'm so sorry, Nick."

Nick responded with a shrug.

"It's going to be okay. We … we can try again. Maybe we just need to use fresher blood, or-"

"No, Nat," Nick flatly interjected. "It's not a cure. You and LaCroix were right about this one. This ritual, these cups, they won't bring me back across." He understood that now, believed it. "It's finished." He took the cup and rolled it across the carpet into the sunlight.

"Nick," Natalie hesitantly began once the Sun cup had finally stopped moving, "what happened?" She recalled what he had said about the time near the doorway during his near-death experience and what he had mentioned about the visions with Marian Blackwing. "What did you experience?"

Nick propped himself up into a sitting position and stared at his hands that rested in his lap. "I'm not really sure. A vision, a hallucination, or a dream. I saw the Vision Serpent, the one you dreamed of."

"Did he do anything?" Natalie prompted, just to keep Nick talking so he wouldn't retreat into silence, as he often did.

"He brought Kinich Ahau."

Natalie leaned forward slightly. "And?"

"And we talked. He said this wasn't a cure for me." Nick reached over to drag his finger on the floor along the border with the light, making sure to keep to the darkness. "I guess a part of me knew that, I just never recognized it. But he was right and I'm still what I am." He pulled his hand back.

Natalie felt a twinge of guilt. She had her doubts that this ritual would be the cure and hoped this had not crept into the blood that had been used. She shifted her position, raising her head and dropping her legs down onto the floor to sit cross-legged. "What did he say this ritual was actually for? Just a treatment for a sick mortal?" Nick finally looked up; she could see the haunted look in his slate blue eyes.

"No. It was for individuals like you, survivors who were drained but not brought across. The shaman would use holy material and invoke the gods to help purge the body. Kinich Ahau would guide the souls that had separated back into the body." Nick refocused on his hands. "He said it was how Hunters were made."

 _Hunters_. Natalie forced herself to remain calm, hoping Nick did not pick up on her spike of fear. She never forgot how intensely interested the Enforcers had been about her recovery in the hospital. She had spent quite a long time answering their questions, while they had barely replied to hers. What she had been able to glean from them was that Hunters were more than just mortals that had survived an attack – they were made. Some process was used to help them survive and the Enforcers wanted to know if Nick or LaCroix had done something to her that had allowed her to survive. She didn't recall anything and since she wasn't a Hunter and had helped the Community, they let her live. Of course, even the little they told her about the creation of Hunters was to be kept secret or they would be back. And now Nick was talking about rituals to make Hunters. She began to think trying to influence Nick might have not been a good decision; thoughts other than what she had intended to share appeared to have made their way into Nick. "That's an … interesting dream, Nick. You were probably simply trying to find a way to explain how a treatment for a human sickness could have been confused for a vampirism cure."

Nick looked at Natalie. "You think that's it?"

Natalie nodded, wanting to encourage him to not dwell too much on Hunters and believe it was just his imagination. "The mind is very powerful, Nick. It will sometimes create an explanation to bridge two conflicting thoughts so that there is harmony."

"Yeah, I guess you're right. I believed in this cure for so long, I probably did need some reason to explain it."

Natalie scooted closer to Nick. "Stay positive. This doesn't mean there isn't a cure out there. I guess we just need to keep looking."

Nick's lips curved upward into a small smile. "It's weird though. Even though I'm still a vampire, I think something did change."

"What do you mean?"

"Right before I woke up, Kinich Ahau touched me and I felt like I was burning. He said he would bring light into the darkness and then I felt the Sun. But look," Nick rolled up his sleeves to expose his arms and showed them to Natalie, "I'm not burned."

"Nick," Natalie cautiously began, "that was a dream, not reality. I was right beside you – you weren't burned."

"I'm not afraid. I survived the sun in that place. Even you said you wanted me to come back into the light. I think I might be able to. Nat, I spent nearly eight hundred years fearing the light but I look at it now and I'm not afraid of it." Nick put his hand onto the floor next to the shaft of light.

Natalie slid closer but didn't block him. "Be careful, Nick."

"I'll be fine, I know it." Nick pushed his hand into the sunlight. He kept it there, and aside from the old automatic urge to pull it back, he didn't experience any immediate reason to retract it. After a few moments, his skin became warmer but did not become scorched. Rising up, he walked completely into the light. It was very bright, and Nick blinked a few times in response so did not see Natalie slam into him. Her arms went around him and he enveloped her as well. He felt such joy being in the light again and through his mental link with Natalie experienced her elation as well. Nick grinned. Vampire he still might be, and his diet would still be blood, but at least he was once again in the light, and one step closer to his goal. He eventually pulled back slightly from Natalie. "I'm surprised you haven't started asking how this is possible."

Natalie looked up into Nick's exuberant face. "I'll explore that later." Right now she was just happy she was able to get one good suggestion implanted into Nick.


End file.
